ous
prize. 'Twill be the making of you, man, for ever!"

Ulric was shocked at the proposal. To desecrate the graves of his
fathers was a deed which made him shudder, and, bad as he was, the
thought filled him with the greatest horror, but the temptation was
irresistible.

At the solemn hour of midnight he proceeded to the chapel, accompanied
by the pilgrim. He entered the holy place with trembling, for his
heart misgave him. The pilgrim stayed without, apparently anxious and
uneasy as to the result of the experiment about to be made. To all the
solicitations of the Count for assistance in his task he turned a deaf
ear; nothing that he could say could induce him to set foot within the
chapel walls.

Ulric opened the graves in the order in which they were situated,
beginning with the one first from the door of the chapel. He proceeded
to remove the rotting remains from their mouldering coffins. One by
one did he bear their bleached bones into the open air, as he had been
instructed, and placed them as they had lain in their narrow beds,
under the pale moonbeams, on the plot of green sward facing the south,
outside the chapel walls. The coffins were all cleared of their
tenants, except one which stood next to the altar, at the upper end of
the aisle. Ulric approached this also to perform the wretched task he
had set himself, the thoughts of the treasure he should become
possessed of but faintly sustaining his sinking soul in the fearful
operation. Removing the lid of this last resting-place of mortality,
his heart failed him at the sight he beheld. There lay extended, as if
in deep sleep, the corpse of a fair child, fresh and comely, as if it
still felt and breathed and had lusty being. The weakness Ulric felt
was but momentary. His companion called aloud to him to finish his
task quickly, or the hour would have passed when his labour would
avail him. As he touched the corpse of the infant the body stirred as
if it had sensation. He shrank back in horror as the fair boy rose
gently in his coffin, and at length stood upright within it.

"Bring back yon bones," said the phantom babe,--"bring back yon bones;
let them rest in peace in the last home of their fathers. The curse of
the dead will be on you otherwise. Back! back! bring them back ere it
be too late."

The corpse sank down in the coffin again as it uttered these words,
and Ulric saw a skeleton lying in its place. Shuddering, he averted
his gaze, and turned it